Reviews by autro

Disintegration is a gothic masterpiece composed by The Cure at the peak of their creativity. The album lures you in curiously with twinkling bells, and out of nowhere blasts off into a synth soundscape portraying the most beautiful skies and endless rivers. Something that Plainsong demonstrates and begins formulizing for the rest of the record is the band’s ability to build these incredible instrumentals, and that they’re not quick to bring in the vocals. They let these beautiful arrangements simmer and immerse you before Robert Smith’s gorgeous performance begins. Letting the music breathe is one of the best decisions that this album consistently makes, allowing the listener to take it all in before telling you the gloomy tales that pull you in even more. Roger O’Donnell’s synth sound he achieves on this song especially as well as the rest of the album is enormous, perfectly complementing the atmosphere. Smith’s horizontal approach to melodies is a very unique approach to guitar, something that is absolutely definitive and original to the Cure’s sound. Their simplicity makes this whole album incredibly catchy and demonstrative of how the easiest of riffs can be the most beautiful. Plainsong lets that huge synth simmer and fade as the record literally crashes into Pictures of You. This song alone makes the album a 10, as it is one of my favorite songs of all time. The two guitars glide along the fretboard as the instrumental begins to absorb you. Then when the main bass line hits, it just gives you chills. So simple, yet so beautiful. Lyrically, this track demonstrates Robert Smith’s inhumane ability to make you feel his emotions incredibly deeply, as his melodies perfectly sit atop the genius instrumentals. The little guitar motif that comes throughout the end of the song is just so good too, I could write about this song forever. One of the quickest 7 minute songs I’ve ever heard; it’s just so spell-binding. It ends abruptly on that echoing crash, like the Picture is being broken. Then the thundering drums come beating down seconds after as you’re pulled into the massive atmosphere of Closedown. O’Donnell’s synth part on this one just hammers in that reminder that the simplest melodies are the most effective. I love how this one sits before Robert comes in on his performance, which is just consistently perfect. He enters deep in the landscape and never overstays his welcome, delivering only what needs to be said. Then the poppier side of the album is displayed, as The Cure effortlessly proves their ability to nail multiple genres and styles. The guitar riff is so catchy, complementing the genius synth line and dancing bass. Then the string part is introduced, which is just so brilliant. The solos on Lovesong are just so good; truly one of the best pop songs of all time. Last Dance once again shows the band’s capability to create these huge murky soundscapes. The percussion is also incredible. Lullaby exhibits The Cure’s love of using all sorts of sounds and instruments, which is always refreshing to the ear throughout the listen. Then one of my personal favorites, Fascination Street eerily anticipates its entrance as the light squealing strokes the listener’s curiosity, just as it explodes into groove under Boris Williams’ thundering drums. The Cure is just genius at building and releasing tension, which when you’re a master at it, makes the music so good. One of Simon Gallup’s highlights, this track exemplifies his underrated ability of playing the lead while the guitars take the rhythm, which is something seen throughout the whole album, especially on tracks like Pictures of You and Disintegration. This bassline is just so nasty. As the guitars swirl and build with their effects, this track is composed as one of The Cure’s best. Robert Smith’s vocals on Fascination Street is also one of my favorites of his. On a side note, Boris Williams is one of the most underrated drummers of all time, and his tasteful playing and unconventional snare placements and grooves complement the other instruments so well, enhancing the emphasis of the best notes perfectly. His percussive work throughout the entire album is just incredible. The second disc shifts the album’s vibe to a more calming atmosphere, as the band dwells in their foggy jams once again. This whole record is perfect for a rainy day whenever you want to slip away in the gothic everglade. Prayers for Rain and The Same Deep Water as You are genius downpours of orchestration as you feel as if you are in these soaking wet marshes of emotion. These tracks especially, but nevertheless every song on Disintegration, perfectly audibly paint the record’s cover sleeve. The album art is probably one of if not my favorite covers of all time. It’s a gorgeous piece of work that brilliantly complements the music, visualizing the emotion and ambience of every song. The title track is another banger, featuring another killer bassline from Gallup and the genius intertwining of Robert and Porl’s guitars, along with the rocking arpeggiator. Homesick displays the fantastic piano work from Roger O’Donnell once again, as it gives the lingering sensation that the record is beginning to end. Then the accordion starts to play on Untitled, and the drums just come booming in with that perfect fill from Boris as the closing track explodes into beauty. Robert’s lyrics are just so alluring, probably my favorite of his of all time. The heartbreak that his words and performance convey is truly one of a kind. The final guitar solo that slowly gets teased more until it bleeds out and echoes as the track fades away as the accordion comes back into center is so genius. God I love this record. This is one of the best album closers of all time, and it impeccably ends the experience on a breathtaking note. My favorite thing that Disintegration can do is just plunge you into this gothic landscape, as every song is so murky and immersive that you’re only out once the album finishes and you realize 72 minutes have passed like nothing. Each song is just so vivid when you’re listening, as if you’re there in their swamps of haunting perfection. A brilliant album from a brilliant band.

This record is actually killer. I expected some repetitive punk slop, but this is anything but that. Every riff has incredible creativity and is different every time unlike many punk riffs. The progginess of this album shocked me, and the odd time riffs made each song rhythmically awesome. Even the manipulation of 4/4 was super cool, especially how Edward's vocals are layered on top. Loved seeing how creative those things got. The bass is consistently cooking too, driving the record with nasty lead lines that make the content blistering. I also love the clips that play in between songs, making the album feel more connected and thematic. The best part about this record is the lyrical content and performance from Richey Edwards. His vocals are perfect and not obnoxious as other punk albums, and his bleak and angry soapbox lyrics make his disappearance even more haunting. Blew me away, very unpredictable listen.

This album was clearly made to accompany the single, and it just gets worse and worse after the title track. Every single song is the exact same; listening to this record was less entertaining than paint drying. It sounds like a group of musicians just discovered the 1-4-5 like cavemen discovering fire. Green Onions is already a pretty boring track, but hearing it essentially 12 times in a row is a new kind of torture. It wasn't even that bad, it was just so formulaic that I would rather eat an entire onion raw than listen to it again. So not the worst material, just boring. The last couple tunes switched it up, which teased the potential of the group and the album, but that just disappointed me even more.

Upbeat and fun pop songs, melodic and haunting ballads, George Michael does it all. His voice is just so powerful, regardless of the style; it simply suits everything. The album's lyrical material is also great, moving me emotionally track for track. Love the mix of instruments heard throughout the record like the different synth sounds and acoustic guitars. This album is pretty heavy on side 1 and alright on side 2, but the reprise making the experience more cohesive certainly pleased my ears. Very high 4, wonderful singer.

This album has the same flaws as the many other synth-pop records of the time period. Great substance and ideas, but just slightly too repetitive to make it an outstanding experience. The vocals and melodies are amazing; I really like his voice. The mixing and production is also perfect, making the soundscape very immersive and pleasing to the ear. All the progressions were fantastic and engaging as well, but each song had the problem of looping and not really going out of the box creatively-wise. Each loop is uniquely cool for sure, but there is too much wasted potential for a 5.

Coldplay's first couple albums are great alternative rock that get extremely diminished due to their awful evolution to pop slop. Their debut is a very good first edition. Chris Martin's vocals sound great and raw, making every song feel personal and pleasant. The guitar parts aren't anything crazy but the songwriting arrangements and progressions were very keen to the ear and displayed the band's early creativity. Each riff is beautiful, with nice blends of electric and acoustic. The album's lyrical material isn't anything nuts, but it definitely works for the music and the whole band's performance on 'Sparks' is phenomenal. The piano throughout the record is also great. Parachutes is certainly far from groundbreaking, but there are some great tracks and it was an engaging listen for sure. High 4.

Usually the harsh British punk vocals are very repulsive to my ears, but Joe Strummer's style is great and incredibly fitting. The songwriting is alright, definitely too repetitive to achieve an engaging consistency. Many tracks blended into each other throughout the listen. The bass playing on some of the songs are quite awesome, and make some parts of the album stand out. The quality of the mixing is obviously not the best given that it's a 70's punk record, but the guitar tone is too screechy for me, as well as the sound of the drums. Good ideas, very influential, mid execution, lots of potential for a debut.

The things Nick Drake can achieve with just his voice and an acoustic guitar is insane. Out of the main three, Pink Moon is the most stripped down in terms of instrumentation, offering a very raw performance of Drake. Although it's my least favorite record of his, it's still phenomenal. The best song on the album is the only track with an overdub, which is the piano solo in the title track. It gives a small snippet of what the record could be if you took the material and built upon it with more instrumentation, leading me to stray more towards a 4. Aside from that, lyrically and melodically this album is absolutely gorgeous. Pink Moon is a great listen and I was very glad to get this record in the fall. Nick Drake's singing is just so personal and unique, it's impossible to not love.

The songwriting in terms of progressions are pretty repetitive, and the whole album feels like one song. I know this album's influential, but Iron Maiden was rocking even heavier the same year way better. This whole listen is just kinda John Metal the whole time, and nothing is really blowing me away or perking my ears to any extent. The guitar riffs are pretty bland along with the drum grooves; it's just an incredibly elementary album musically. Breaking the Law is a pretty cool song, but other than that the singles blend in with the filler, which is very prominent and obvious due to the repetitive song structures. The last three tracks are absolutely incredible, shocking my bored ass awake. Good potential here, especially knowing what's coming soon for the band and the genre.

Lots of glorp on the bass and guitars very good. I love how psychedelic it is too, this whole album is super trippy. Vocals sound beautiful and the transitions from track to track are awesome. Incredibly engaging and cohesive; I feel like I'm in the arena of The Pink Robots.

This album is absolutely gorgeous. The rich contrast between the vocals and the sax is beautiful as they complement each other perfectly. The soft guitar and working bass line forge a simple but extremely enhancing rhythm section, running with the light drums to support the incredible melodic voices. Vocals from both Gilbertos are phenomenal, providing the perfect tone that the instruments call for. Not to mention the subtle piano that adds an entire blanket on each track. The Portuguese lyrics combined with the English ones make each song feel so cohesive as they take turns layering the warm melodies. It is just the time of year to listen to this record as the leaves begin to fall and the evenings arrive earlier.

Great New Wave record. Annie Lennox's vocals are phenomenal; the way she layers together harmonies as well as simple melodies is just perfect. The synthesizer work is also top notch stuff, very good for mopping to. A problem with a lot of the keyboard driven New Wave albums is their tendency to loop the riffs way too long and stretching songs past beyond their engagement level, but every single song on this record is the perfect length. When it comes to songwriting however, Eurythmics tends to lack creativity, with few chord changes at all and tend to stay very static in terms of song structure. It mostly wasn't a boring album and it definitely kept me engaged, but something felt strange about it that wasn't positive. It was a net positive listen, but I really don't like the title track. Very high 3

This is simply a good album. The whole record just had the problem of good ideas but underwhelming execution. Either riffs were repeated too many times or the pacing was just a little off, but it was still a pleasant listen. The bass on some tracks was awesome, as well as some of the guitar arrangements. Not essential by any means, but still a nice listen. PJ loves to add some odd signatures too which is always appreciated in my household as well as a cool use of polyrhythms on the track 'Dress'. Great production as well. High 3.

This album is just so boring. Every single track is extremely repetitive and gets stale after the first 30 seconds. There's certainly some great poetry on here, but there's also some pretty bad lyrics on this album. The shrieking lead guitar doesn't add either. It's just such a beige record that doesn't offer much. Tracks like Jigsaw Puzzle are quite nice, but the song structures are just so static. Yawner album.

As this is the last Public Enemy album I have left on the list, I wanna take a second to rate the artist themselves. The influence PE contributed the hip hop scene was enormous, and the topics and issues they spoke openly upon was very bold for the time. Their ability to convey these important truths about society while blending them with great music is just amazing. That being said, this album was alright. It was definitely a very odd listen as some of the tracks tended to feel too long or just insane due to the crowds of noise and sound effects with all the news reports and whatnot making the songs feel less like actual songs. I definitely love the high energy, but sometimes the beats don't deliver to match the vibe. However the production is incredible, with the stereo mixing making the album feel huge. The material is still incredibly relevant, but the music just isn't developed in the best way. Very wild and interesting record, mid to low 3.

The vocals are absolutely awful. The guitar parts are the most bland and repetitive punk riffs I've ever heard. The bass playing is pretty great, but the other aspects just stain it to the point of no return. Not to mention the earraping sound effects that add literally nothing to the album. The bagpipes are even worse like oh my god it's terrible. This sounds like something the CIA would use to torture experiments. Horrible listen, absolutely excruciating.

Bowie and Eno, a wild combination. While this is album is very inconsistent in terms of material, switching back and forth between the art rock and the ambient electronic instrumentals in an unconventional order, all the songs are great. The electronic achievement of this record is awesome, and its blend with the normal rock instruments is seamless, especially considering the time period. The synthesizers are for sure the highlight of the album, elevating the quality of every song. A complaint I definitely want to bring up is some of the lyrics being not very good. However, the saxophone featured in a couple of the songs is absolutely phenomenal. Some tracks tended to get quite repetitive, but it wasn't too bad. The strange instrumentals ended up being my favorites, but they definitely threw off the pacing for the album due to the placement. This record loved to hop back and forth between the line of too experimental to be good and amazing weirdness, which harms my opinion of it slightly. Interesting Bowie album, nice listen.

The tracks are pretty repetitive, but the substance itself is good for the most part so I don't mind too much. David Byrnes lyrics certainly keep me engaged, with his wacky societal descriptions engaging my ears throughout the whole record. His jarring melodies unfortunately aren't my favorite, making the return value very low. While all the instrument's parts are not very interesting, the bass playing is great. The second half of this album isn't the best, and I was very bored and confused by the end. I just don't really have any strong attraction to try to understand the Talking Heads; they might just not be for me.

Strangely, I prefer the jazzier and psychedelic side of Stevie compared to the poppier rnb half, making Innervisions an extraordinary collection of songs. The chord structures and changes are pure genius, exemplifying Stevie wonders prodigal talent. From a technical standpoint, this album is incredible. The luscious guitars on Visions are beautiful; this track just calms my senses so well. Not to mention the fantastic flow of this record, with every single track seamlessly flowing into each other as one continuous piece. Stevie Wonder presents his phenomenal talent of combining Soul, Jazz, Funk, Pop, all into one package effortlessly, proving his generational genius. This album also features a great number of instruments, making every track sound fresh and interesting. Synths, clavs, acoustic guitars, this whole record is just genius. The funkier songs are just as great as the jazz ones too, making the mash of genres flow surprisingly well. 70s perfection, possibly my favorite album of Stevie's classic run.

This music is pretty fun for about the first minute and then it gets extremely repetitive and unbearable for the next four. Every single one of these songs are triple the length they need to be, regardless of how energetic they are and follow a very formulaic song structure that makes every track feel so similar. The production is obviously meant to be played in a club with a pounding bass, but it was not kind on my ears as I sat in my living room at 8 pm. Most of the lyrics are pretty bad, so it definitely doesn't make the static nature of the album any better. There are a few fun parts and the instrumentals themselves aren't anything short of good, but the monotonousness outweighed the pros. Can't forget to praise some of the smoothest transitions I've heard on a 90s album in awhile, not to mention this being pretty ahead of its time for the use of electronics as well. Very high 2. I just wasn't on enough MDMA to fully enjoy this.